274 
JOURNAL OF AN EMBASSY 
revolutions, the world, strictly speaking, has 
neither beginning nor end. Eleven out of the 
sixty-four revolutions of man’s age have passed 
away, and we are but in the beginning of the 
twelfth. Every period produces a royal being, 
who having attained the age of one hundred vie- 
trillions of years, assumes the name of Thu mad a 
(Sumada). Of these, eleven have already appear¬ 
ed. The last of these was succeeded by a dy¬ 
nasty of twenty-eight kings, each of whose ages 
equalled his own, and who reigned in the three 
following countries, viz. Kok-tha-wadi (Kok-sa- 
wati), Yaza-gaya (Kaja-gaya), and Mitela (Mi- 
t’hila). These were succeeded by one hundred 
kings, who reigned in Kok-tha-wadi only. After 
these worthies we have no less than twenty-two 
dynasties, each of which reigned in a different 
country. Among these countries, several Hindu 
names may be recognized; such as Hastipura, 
Madura, &c. The last dynasty, consisting of 
eighty-two thousand and thirteen kings, reigned 
in the native country of Gautama. The whole 
number of kings, who reigned from the time of 
the last Sumada to that of Gautama, is reckoned 
by the Burmese at 334,569 ! The earliest pro¬ 
bable date in Burmese story, or rather in the 
story which the Barmans mix up with their own, 
is the commencement of the grand epoch estab¬ 
lished by Anjana, the grandfather of Gautama. 
This corresponds with the year before Christ 691. 
